Life changes us. The things we once held as dear no longer bedazzle or attract us. New things stand out as important. I was reminded of that this morning when I read Psalm 84. "For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." (v.11) What a promise! No good thing will he withhold...at least not from those who are walking in righteousness.

There was a time when I had a long list of things I wanted to purchase. I was sure they would make me happy. "If only I had ______, then I will be happy!" Perhaps I desired the wealth of Solomon. But now I realize the headaches that Solomon must of had managing all his property and possessions. Now, a good thing to me is less of a house with a lot fewer possessions to store and maintain.

The "good thing" I would ask for have to do with expanded opportunity to minister and share the good news of Jesus, good health, growing relationships with my wife, and family. A good thing to me is a loving church family. A good thing to me is a growing faith and learning more about the ways of the Lord. A really good thing is experiencing the abiding presence of the God.

My prayer is that I may know what is truly a good thing. I am so grateful for God's love and favor. Thank you, Lord!

What is God up to in our lives? In Romans 15:16 Paul reveals a priority of the Spirit's work. He reminds his readers that he has been sent by God's grace..."to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."

Some of us limit God's purpose. We think he simply wants to get us to become a Christian. As this verse indicates he has more in mind for our lives. His purpose is expressed in the phrase beginning with "so that." The work of the Spirit is to labor in our lives so that we are made fully holy. Holiness involves at least two aspects. First, as in the accompanying phrase, the holy person is set apart as an offering to God. The sanctified person says something like this: "I give you my whole self. I will do whatever you want me to do. You can use me in anyway you wish, God." That is a person who is an offering on the altar (Romans 12:1-2). 

The sanctified person also changes in behavior. As they are transformed by the Word of God, their life also changes. In behavior they become more and more like Jesus.

Yes, we are considered holy when we come to Christ, but the Spirit continues to change us so we become what we already are. Knowing that the Holy Spirit wants to make us holy should altar our view of everyday life. We want to expect and cooperate with the work of the Spirit. Watch closely today to see what God does to create holiness in you!

Are you normal? Most of us want to be considered somewhat normal. Perhaps we are proud of a few ways we are unique, but we don't want others to consider us weird. Do you think this impacts how we think about the practice of our faith? Are we trying to be like other Christians around us? I suspect we all too often are. Let me suggest to you a better measure of what it means to be a normal Christian.  The measure of normal should be the the New Testament description of the Christian life.

Let me suggest to you one characteristic of the normal Christian life. I find it in Romans 8:14 "...those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." By that description a normal Christian life is to be led by the Spirit. 

​So let's expect God to lead us.

Acts 2:42-47 describes the brand new church birthed from the movement of the Spirit following Pentecost. It was wonderfully new. Bad habits and human institutions had not yet crept in. The qualities of this church as described reflect the work of the Holy Spirit. We can't go back in time but we can seek and pray for these same types of qualities in our church. What are they?

Well, before I describe the 5 qualities there is a verb used to describe several of them. That verb speaks of the intensity fired by the Spirit. These disciples were "devoted" to certain things. One definition of the Greek word for devotion is to be singly focused in attention. Have you ever witnessed a young man playing a video game? They are really focused in on what they are doing! The house could be on fire and they wouldn't notice. This intense focus describes the devotion of the early disciples. What were they devoted to?

They were devoted to...
1. hearing and living out the apostle's teaching (the New Testament)
2. being a part of a loving fellowship
3. worship and prayer
4. serving one another in practical and sacrificial ways
5. reaching people with the good news of Jesus.

Which quality will you begin to seek and pray for in your church?

In my recent post I talked about responding to people who the Spirit seems to be working on. That raises the question of what that my look like. What are the signs that someone is under conviction of the Holy Spirit?

Let me tell you a couple stories. Some time a go, I invited a friend of mine to join me for a bible study. He came that week to our group. During the study he kept arguing with what we were learning in the scriptures. Afterwards when I dropped him at home, I asked him if we would like to join us next week. I had little hope he would be interested, but he agreed to come again. This continued for several weeks, though his arguments decreased. He was demonstrating a growing conviction of the Spirit. Finally, one day he blurted out to me, "You are getting to me."

Another fellow I was sharing the faith with seemed to react by becoming a heartier sinner. If anything, his life got messier than ever. It was like a great spiritual struggle. Still in his case, he walked out of the battle into a new faith.

Other times I observed a growing interest and excitement over the things of God. Suddenly the person begins to read the scriptures or attend a church. Some exhibit a new openness to talking about God.

How have you noticed people responding to the work of the Spirit in their hearts?

It is quite evident that our major responsibility as followers of Jesus is to make more disciples. But here is the problem. We often get calloused to the need of change. The more we repeat a certain sin pattern, the more it seems normal. Then we gather around ourselves people who agree with us that our sin is OK. So who needs to turn from their life of sin and begin as a new creation?

You can try your best to show an example. You can attempt to persuasively present the gospel, but often it falls on deaf ears. This is where John 16:8-11. Jesus reminds us that we don't have to rely on our own debating skills. He is sending the Holy Spirit to work in people's lives and minds.

Listen to Jesus' words: "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgement: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." (NIV) 

It is the work of the Spirit to bring people to the place where they see their need for forgiveness and to receive his righteousness. May I suggest that we look to see where the Spirit is working in people's lives? Then relying on the Holy Spirit let's seek to minister.

In my last blog, I wrote about the necessity of moving from intentions to actual practices that keep us listening to God's voice. Let me share today about one of my practices. It is not the only way, but perhaps it will illustrate a practice of listening to God that will help you.
Dr. John Piippo came and taught us at our church a simple form of training ourselves to listen to God. It is a form of prayer that focuses on listening. He had us begin by getting alone with God for an hour to meditate on Psalm 23. Then he instructed us to write down what ever we thought we were hearing from God. He cautioned us not to write down "exegesis" (analysis of the scripture). Instead we were to let God's word analyze us and speak to us. Then we got together in small groups and shared what God was saying to us. It was amazing!
Per his instructions, I spend 30 to 60 minutes each morning reading scripture and listening for what God is saying to me. I spend time also worshipping and praying. I keep a journal and write down what God is saying to me either through the Scriptures or guidance he gives me as I ask. John encourages us to build the habit of doing this at least 5 days a week.
This is one way I am learning to keep focused on what the Spirit is saying. So that it is not just an exercise in individualism, I meet with a couple other men once a week to share what we are hearing from God. This practice has been a blessing and keeps me tuned into the Spirit and the Word.
Perhaps you would like to put into practice something like this. I would love to hear how it is transforming you to be a listener to the voice of God.

We all have grand intentions. Unfortunately, our intentions don't always translate into reality. We intend to spend more time in the presence of God. We intend to listen to the voice of God. Then the rush of life overtakes our intentions washing away the hoped for results.

Ruth Haley Barton in her book, Pursuing God's Will Together, describes the process of developing within your leadership group a community of transformation. Those values include the importance of discerning together God's leading for the group. However, she observes that without specific individual and group practices our values remain as good intentions. But when we choose to engage in practices that open us up to listening to the Spirit of God and listening to one another we can begin to develop of culture of transforming discernment.

Our leadership group at the church is on its way to develop practices so we will regularly listen to God and one another.

Over the next several blogs I will describe some of my personal practices designed to help me stay in God's presence with an open ear. I will share these with you to hopefully encourage you to think about how you can move your intentions to listen to God into reality.

For some, the church is irrelevant. “I can do just fine without ‘organized religion,’” they say. Paul has a much higher vision of the God’s church. He has written us the letter to the Ephesians to describe the grand purposes he has for his body. In recent sermons I have shared how the church is the fullness of Christ. It is also where he demonstrates his grace.

In Ephesians 2:11-22 we discover another grand purpose for the church. It is God’s passion to end hostility between groups of people. There is way too much enmity in this world today. There is hatred between religious groups, ethnic groups, political leanings and scores of other categories. God’s plan is to bring people into unity and peace as they form a new entity—the body of Christ. Redeemed people extinguish the anger and hatred as we gather together as the church. Our sins are forgiven and we find our new identity centered in Jesus. Old animosities die as we become one in the kingdom.

This informs us of a major work the church should be involved in. Since God is drawing separated people and reconciling them to God and one another, that should be at the forefront of the church’s work. Every church should be a place where diverse people are dwelling together with love. I challenge you to be a reconciler!

Five Signs of Renewal

Recently I was asked by a pastor friend who knew we are praying for renewal what that would look like when it arrived. I realized immediately that I would be able to pray for and work for renewal much better if I had a clear understanding of what a renewed church looks like. This summary in Acts 2 reveals to me what an alive church looks like.

Acts 2:42-47  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. NIV

Five signs of a renewed church:

1.     The people love the word of God. They are reading the Bible regularly and eagerly. They love to talk about the Scriptures and study the scriptures together. They cherish preaching and Bible study. They are eager to apply the scriptures to their lives.

2.     The people love to be together and treat one another as family (fellowship). This includes sharing meals and communion together. It also means they sacrificially help each other with practical needs.

3.     A renewed church loves to pray and worship together. It becomes a natural instinct to stop and gather for prayer. Moments of joy remind us to offer up thanksgiving. Obstacles spur on prayer. Praise as words and songs are lifted up to God.

4.     The renewed church has divine power. Healing and miracles will spotlight God’s presence. Like in Acts 4:30 we pray, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

5.     The renewed church attracts new people to the kingdom.